Smell of Brimstone, Stench of Death
by Mikel Midnight
Summary: The Earth-17 Overman and Owlman, as well as the Earth-47 Sunshine Superman and Shooting Star, must battle a fiery monster known as Brimstone, who draws power from hsi existence on multiple worlds.


Suddenly, Nicholas Lucien awoke.

He peered at his hands, eyes wide at the second set of hands which seemed super-imposed upon them. It was not a double image, however, but a heightened sort of awareness. He felt the presence of another mind in his own, one whose thoughts seemed to track his so precisely, but with the slightest differences in perceptions which only lent depth and texture to the experience.

He flexed his hands, and was amazed as flame flickered from around his joints, accompanied by the smell of brimstone.

Then, Nicholas Lucien smiled.

And then, Nicholas Lucien smiled.

* * *

Dane Dynamite laughed, nerve-impulse-interrupt rays striking the tall man in blue and red who stood before him. "Even the mighty Overman falls prey to Hjalmar Dane's neuro technology," he gloated, seeing his opponent freeze in place.

Elsewhere, Owlman struggled with Juza Unno aboard the latter's autogyro, the other man's velocity close to the Flash's but augmented with martial arts skills.

The Golden Guardian sought to protect himself as the ninja named Hane' from the House of Bamboo dealt a series of crushing blows, the man's hands and feet starting to crack the shield he carried with him.

Dane's laughter halted abruptly as Overman's heat vision, unaffected, began to melt his device.

* * *

Dane Dynamite laughed, nerve-impulse-interrupt rays striking the tall man in blue and red who stood before him. "Even the mighty Sunshine Superman falls prey to Hjalmar Dane's neuro technology," he gloated, seeing his opponent freeze in place.

Elsewhere, Shooting Star struggled with Juza Unno aboard the latter's autogyro, the other man's velocity close to Speed Freak's but augmented with martial arts skills.

Brother Power recoiled as the ninja named Hane' from the House of Bamboo dealt a series of crushing blows, the man's hands and feet sinking easily into the fibre of his puppet body.

Dane's laughter halted abruptly as Sunshine Superman's psychotropic vision, unaffected, began to melt his mind.

* * *

Nicholas Lucien strode through his neighborhood, savoring the new awareness. Some experiences seemed duplicated twice over, though he also saw a young woman in her 20s speaking to her parents, whom he knew had died in another context. Another man who walked by him on the street seemed to be a generation older in one set of perceptions than the other.

He walked by a newsstand, and stared at the headline for a long time. Some sort of event located at the Boulder Dam, a trio of men who had been in suspended animation for decades awoke and tried to destroy it, only to be defeated by Overman and Owlman … Sunshine Superman and Shooting Star … he saw a paper written in Norwegian referring to Thor and Dr. Midnight, and a roughly scrawled piece of parchment about Kal-El the Duke of the Galaxies and Fledor the Knight of the Bat … other languages and names began to overwhelm him, and the paper burned to ash in his hands.

* * *

The Golden Guardian finished hauling the unconscious trio into the autogyro. "I'll take these scofflaws back with me, and see you at the next Justice Project meeting." Owlman smiled grimly and nodded. Autogyros predated even the clone of Jim Harper's memories, but he could pilot a police helicopter and suspected he could manage this.

Overman furrowed his brow. "I'm picking up a radio report set in Gotham … priority A alert. I think we ought to head over there."

* * *

Brother Power finished hauling the unconscious trio into the autogyro. "I'll take these bummer dudes back with me, and see you at the next Love Syndicate meeting." Shooting Star smiled cheerfully and nodded. Autogyros predated even the animated puppet's memories, but he could survive a space satellite landing and suspected he could manage this.

Sunshine Superman furrowed his brow. "I'm picking up a radio report set in Gotham … real bad vibes. I think we ought to head over there."

* * *

Nicholas Lucien's anger and frustration began to grow, those emotions somehow intrinsically connected to whatever transformation had at first created only a sense of wonder. And as the techno-seed within him began to grow its fruit, the heat he generated enveloped him, forming a body of living, flaming brimstone.

* * *

As the two men approached, Owlman focused his attention on the chaotic giant. "I can't impose my force of will to control his actions. I can almost make it pause, but it feels like there are dozens of other minds within that I can't reach."

Overman scowled. "Then we'll have to take more direct action."

* * *

As the two men approached, Sunshine Superman focused his psychotropic vision on the chaotic giant. "I can't touch his mind at all. It's like there's a party goin' on in there and they ain't gonna listen to any of my sounds."

Shooting Star scowled. "Then we'll have to take more direct action."

* * *

Nicholas Lucien saw an oddly-shaped aircraft sweep towards him, one shaped like a star or a bird of prey. Strange weapons ejected from it, exploding on the surface of his skin. He felt more insulted than injured from the attack, and a flaming sword formed in his hand, sweeping out and striking it to the ground. A man clad in blue and red soared through the air towards him, and fists powerful enough to devastate mountains swung out against him. He staggered back, but his fists proved stronger still, and he swatted the man like an insect, sending him flying away.

The small man turned out to be quick, and nigh-invulnerable, and he flew back almost immediately. But Nicholas Lucien was energized by powers beyond this plane, and the attacks began to come slower. Out of sheer malice, he swung his sword across buildings to his right and left, watching them crumble.

Had he been more focused, he might have somehow perceived the activity of the sensor array from the aircraft. There was something at his core that was alien, and that was perceptible. The man in blue and red landed by the aircraft, listening, and then soared towards him again; this time he hovered before his opponent's heart.

Psychotropic vision. Lightning bolts. Atomic vision. Martian vision. Heat vision from four dozen other sources. Nicholas Lucien felt them pierce into his magnetic nexus at multiple levels of reality, and it became too much even for his current form to hold coherency. He imploded, forces turning within himself as he met his end.

* * *

On another plane entirely, Darkseid watched on multiple screens, and learned.


End file.
